Physik Instrumente (PI) has established an “innovation hub” in Karlsruhe, Germany, as the company looks to intensify its cooperation with leading universities and research institutions. The nanopositioning equipment developer and provider said it is transferring areas from R&D to its so-called innovation hubs in close proximity to technical universities and colleges. Physik Instrumente established an innovation hub in the iWerkx on the Hoepfner Areal in Karlsruhe, Germany. The hub is located near the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, the FZI Research Center for Information Technology, and the Technologiefabrik Karlsruhe. Courtesy of PI. The company began this effort in September, leasing around 500 sq m of office and laboratory space to set up its Karlsruhe innovation hub. According to Markus Spanner, CEO of the PI Group, the proximity of the hub to three leading institutes promises a strong impetus for future topics, and helps PI consolidate and expand its technology leadership. PI said it is also planning to establish innovation hubs as research clusters in the U.S. and Asia. The company said that it aims for its research clusters to concentrate on future and post-future topics, as opposed to product and production-related development work.